Our trip to Vancouver and Victoria BC

Night is falling over Vancouver

Below are pictures from Kitsilano Beach and Granville Island.

Just came back from Vancouver and Victoria (on Vancouver Island). We flew to Seattle and took the ferry from Anacomb through San Juan Islands to Sidney and from there to Victoria.

Victoria has a European flare. Old Victorian homes, beautiful government buildings that are illuminated and look glorious at night time. You see water everywhere you go, and the beauty and serenity of the boats along the long shores are pleasing to the eyes.

I was really impressed by the Anthropology Museum, it is just magnificent and actually much larger and more informative then its counter part in Vancouver (although I will recommend the one in Vancouver also). The American Indian as they are called in the US, are called here in Canada the First Nation people. Thinking of it, I think it is much more appropriate name for them. They are not shy in Canada to tell the whole truth and the entire truth (as far as I know) about the history and abuse of the first Nation in canada. I was amazed to see the beautiful art of crafts of the first Nation in both museums and all around the places we visited.

We visited Butchart Gardens which is a MUST for every visitor to the island. I love botanic gardens, and any garden, and I have seen a lot of them. This one, I must say is one of the best! There are so many annuals which is a lot of work to replant in every season, but it creates a carpet of colors. Of course Daliahs are my favorite (my father's favorite, and a large collection of it, and Dalia is named after the flower). There where loads of daliahs everywhere in every possible color and shape. It so happen (and I chose the day) that the day we came to visit was a dancing party day! and we went on stage, and danced and danced as much as our hearts wanted. Ignoring the fact that all others around us were trained ballroom dancers...

We stayed in a beautiful B&B in Victoria a few minutes walk to down town. No, we didn't have tea at the Empress hotel, too expensive for our budget, but we went to see the room, very pretty indeed.

We took the ferry back from Nanaimo to Vancouver. The road is beautiful, and on our way we stopped at a small town called Chenaimus which has beautiful murals. At the visitor center we hired a guide, which is really a woman actress who told the history of the town as she went along the murals. She was great, I don't recall her name but if you are there ask for her. She told us that the town was on a verge of being a ghost town in the 80s during the former economic bad times. They have decided to use their "stimulus package" money at the time for the "outrageous" idea of telling the story of the town through murals. They wrote to many known artists in the world, and they came... The town is now full of tourists even in these bad economic times, which proves that thinking out of the box, and even bringing art (God forbid), can solve sometimes the economic stress.

Vancouver is a big city, with large sky scrappers, lots of traffic (we drove on Georgia an Howe streets for hours...), water everywhere and very beautiful. Apart from down town, there are many neighborhoods that are much quieter and don't fit the above description. We stayed in Kitsilano in a beautiful B&B not too far from the beautiful Kitsilano beach (which is a must at evening time). It is also not far from Granville island which has a fantastic market, and beautiful arts and crafts stores (I loved the place). Breakfast in a B&B is the fun-nest time of day. The breakfast in the place was good, nothing special, but the guests were from all over the world. We really connected with an Irish couple who came to visit their daughter who lives in Vancouver. We talked for hours with them, forgetting sometimes to go on the trip... I know all about the Irish history (almost all...) from the Protestants liberal point of view. By the way, we met there several canadians who were all mad that their health Care system is being bashed right now in the US media.

A mixture of nature and urban beauty you can see at Stanley Park. Walking along the sea wall has many magnificent views points (all together around 9 km, however, you can drive in between and walk a portion of each section).

There are many other hiking places. We hiked in Lynn canyon (it has a long suspension bridge, although not as long as in Capilano) and at the Lighthouse Park on the West side. I must say, I was pretty frightened to walk in more remote part of it, as the signs warning of bears were everywhere... I was told to make myself look big if I encounter one, I thought ot myself, I gained some pounds in this trip (the food was way too good) but I didn't think I was big enough to frighten any bear... I came out all right, as you can see(read)...